Luke Synder and the Hogwarts Express + Epilogue
Title: Luke Snyder and the Hogwarts Express
Author: hugocabret
Pairing: Luke/Reid
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 5800
Series Word Count: ~123,936
Summary/Prompt: Luke and Reid spend their last day at the Castle.
Author's note: I'm getting kind of emotional writing this Author's Note. This is the final chapter of the Hogwarts Series. For over a year and a half I have been writing this little story, but I feel like it is time for it to end. Once again, a simple one-shot has turned into a story of epic proportions (I think word count wise it falls somewhere in between the size of the 4th HP book and the 5th, which is mindblowing to me) and it's your constant encouragement that keeps me writing. This chapter + epilogue was the hardest thing I have ever had to write. This is easily version number fifteen because I just could not finish it. However, this story has been so much fun to write and I am so happy that I got to share it with all of you. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much!! I love you all!!
Also p.s. thank you not ripping me apart on my hp knowledge. I honestly tried my best to keep the verse as real as possible. THANKS!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own ATWT or HARRY POTTER
Luke Snyder and the Room of Requirements
Luke Snyder and the Felix Felicis
Luke Snyder and Advanced Potion Making
Luke Snyder and Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop: Part 1
Luke Snyder and Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop: Part 2
Luke Snyder and the Mirror of Erised
Luke Snyder and the Hospital Wing
Luke Snyder and the Herbology Greenhouse
Luke Snyder and the Ravenclaw Quidditch Practice
Luke Snyder and the Three Broomsticks
Luke Snyder and the Adventures of Martin Miggle, the Mad Muggle
Luke Snyder and the Weird Sisters
Luke Snyder and Tessomacy (Tealeaf Readings)
Luke Snyder and the Pensieve: Part 1
Luke Snyder and the Pensieve: Part 2
Luke Snyder and the Letter from Hippocrates Smethwyck
Luke Snyder and the Prefect's Bathroom
Luke Snyder and the Amortentia Potion
Luke Snyder and the Quidditch Cup: Part 1
Luke Snyder and the Quidditch Cup: Part 2
Luke Snyder and the Quidditch Cup: Part 3
Luke Snyder and the Apparition Exam
“Another year over.” Casey said nonchalantly as he sat on the end of his bed, trying to force his foot into a too-tightly tied sneakers. All three of them where getting ready to go down to the Great Hall for the presentation of the House Cup. The presentation always took place on the last night in the Castle.
“I can’t believe we only have our N.E.W.Ts left and then we are done. Didn’t 7th year seem like a million years away when we were in that first Potions class?” Noah said as he checked his tie in the mirror before throwing is robe on over his head.
“I specifically remember thinking to myself as I left that class, ‘seven more years of Snape! How will I ever survive?’” Casey said as he finally got his foot jammed into his shoe.
“It’s crazy how fast this year went.” Luke chimed in. “And I think once we graduate we probably will miss Snape.”
“Now that’s just insane.” Noah laughed.
“Alright, its almost six, we should go meet the girls now.” Casey mumbled, his face full of robe as he put it on.
Luke hopped off his bed and they followed all the students who were heading towards the Great Hall for the last dinner at Hogwarts. Alli and Maddie were waiting for them just outside the doors.
“Hey babe.” Casey said, kissing Alli on the cheek.
“Hey guys.” Maddie said, while leaning into a kiss from Noah.
“Are you guys all packed?” Alli asked, grabbing Casey’s hand.
“Just gotta close and lock my trunk.” Noah said
“Same.” Luke added
“What about you Casey?” Alli said, looking towards her boyfriend. Noah and Luke just laughed. “…Casey?”
“I’m going to do it tonight.”
“Tonight! We were supposed to hang out tonight. We won’t see each other for three months after tomorrow, and you are going to waste our last night together packing! Look at Noah and Luke, they aren’t stupid, they understand the importance of the last night.”
“Ouch.” Noah laughed
“Do you want me to just skip the dinner and pack now? And for the record, Luke will get to see Reid every day this summer, so he doesn’t really count.”
“Oh no.” Luke said, Maddie and Noah looked scared for what was going to come next.
“Are. You. Kidding. Me.” Alli said. “That makes even less sense.”
“Babe.”
“Don’t babe me. Let’s just go to dinner and you can pack afterwards.”
The girls went towards their respective tables and the boys settled in at the Gryffindor table. There were only a couple nights out of the school year where it was mandatory to sit with your house, and tonight was one of them.
“Dude, you are so stupid sometimes. You were lucky we had to go to dinner, because if we hadn’t, she would still be screaming at you.”
“I was wondering why you guys spent all day cleaning, it didn’t even occur to me that it was so you could get laid.”
Luke and Noah just laughed as their took their seats. They were some of the last people to come into the Great Hall, and Dumbledore was already up and out of his seat, making his way towards the wonderful podium.
“Quiet please, quiet please.” Dumbledore said. His voice low and calm. Fatherly.
The room slowly came to a dull quiet.
“Another year has ended.” Dumbledore announced with a bright and booming voice. It was at this time that Luke was finally able to take in the decorations of the Great Hall.
The ceiling was adorn in silver and dark forest green banners. The colors draped down the sides, billowing at the ends. The candles floating above their heads were carved with snakeheads.
It was clear that Slytherin had won the House Cup this year.
Luke glanced towards the hourglasses towards the front of the Hall, and it looked as if Slytherin had just barely beaten out Gryffindor, it couldn't be by more than twenty points.
“And as always I apologize for making you listen to your old headmaster talk, but this has been a wonderful year. One for the books as they say. I hope with all my heart that this year you learned as much as possible. That you have made new friends and kept your old, for that is the greatest gift this school can give you.
“Now, it is time to present the House Cup. In fourth place, Hufflepuff with two hundred and fifty-six points. Well done Hufflepuff.”
The tables all cheered and some of the students from the Hufflepuff house got to the feet cheering louder than the rest.
“In third place, by only thirty points, Ravenclaw, with three-hundred and ninety-eight points.”
The tables cheered again.
“In second place, and again by only fifteen points separating them from first place, Gryffindor, with four-hundred and twenty-eight points! Which means that this years House Cup is awarded to Slytherin with a grand total of four-hundred and forty-three points.”
The Great Hall exploded with cheers from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Silver and Green confetti fell from the ceiling, reminding everybody who the winners were. Snape sat up at the grand table with a smug smile on his face.
“Thank you for a wonderful year, and lets enjoy this delicious feast!”
The cheering settled and the food appeared and everybody wasted no time diving into the enchanting morsels of food.
“We were so close.” Luke said, looking back up towards the hourglasses containing the stones of each house. “I really wanted to win the House Cup while I was head boy.”
“You’ll still be Head Boy next year too and I’m pretty that most of those points belong to Reid that Snape gives him, so we’ll probably win next year.” Casey said.
Luke laughed, “You’re probably right.”
“And, we I have a feeling that we’ll win the Quidditch Cup too.” Noah added. “Since Reid was their best player, we will totally be able to take them next year.”
“What are you guys trying to do? Kill me with reminders that Reid won’t be here next year?” Luke said, half joking, half serious. “However, it’s actually kinda strange how much influence Reid has over this place.”
“Well, what do you expect, it was his own personal playground for seven years. He pretty much got to do whatever he wanted, including you.” Noah said.
“First off, ew that was gross. And aren’t you at all worried what next year will be like without Maddie?” Luke asked, completely offended by Noah’s blunt statement about his sex life, even if it was true.
“We’ll be fine.”
“How can you be so sure?” Casey asked “I know I’m lucky that Alli is also in our year. But like, before you settled down with Maddie, you were kinda a player, and everybody knows how good the fifth years look after maturing over the summer.”
“Alright, I’ll say it again. That was gross.” Luke said, as he shoved a forkfull of food into this mouth.
“Maddie trusts me and I trust her. We’ve talked about this. If the weekend Hogsmeade visits and Quidditch matches don’t give us the time we need to stay together then we won’t. If we find that we need more time than what we have then we decided we would end it. We don’t need to let ourselves suffer.”
“Isn’t suffering the basis of all relationships?” Casey laughed.
“I don’t think I could ever end things with Reid.” Luke added.
“You two do not count.” Noah said.
“How so?”
“Have you ever seen how you two act when you are together? It’s like nobody else exists.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda gross actually.”
“When have either of you ever seen us together?”
“The fact that you are so blind to this fact is kind of ridiculous.” Noah said rolling his eyes.
“Ever since you guys actually came out…”
Luke gave Casey a glare because he always hated that terminology
“…as a couple…Luke, let me finish. And stop getting defensive.”
“I’m not getting defensive!”
“Uh huh…anyways, you two seek each other out in the halls like heat-seeking missiles. When you are in the library, you guys practically talk across tables with just your eyes. Not to mention, you have a gross new hickey almost every day.”
Luke’s face turned red at the last bit. He knew that Reid did that on purpose but he always tried his best to hide them. He was embarrassed with the fact that he did a horrible job of hiding them.
“Well, it’s actually kind of nice to hear how supportive you guys are of this. I didn’t know this was going to happened, and I almost ruined everything because I was so worried that you guys would hate me.”
“Dude, you guys will be together forever. And we are happy for you. You were nothing but supportive of all my relationships no matter how bad they were and you have always been so nice to Maddie Plus you love Alli, so Casey and I have no reason to ever want your relationship to fail.”
“Yeah, we are friends for life. Fuck we’re practically brothers.” Casey said, mouth full of food.
“Right.” Noah said nailing the point in one more time.
“So, this summer, when are we all going to get together. Screw our boy and girlfriends, I think three months without you guys will be harder.” Luke said, lifting the mood just ever so slightly. Things always tended to feel heavier around the end of the school year.
“I know my family is planning a trip to London in July, I’ll be there for two weeks visiting my cousins so I’ll definitely see you then.” Noah said. “Case, how long are you visiting your half-brother?”
“I leave for Romania in two weeks, spending six with him there working with Adam with the dragons, and then I’ll be in London right before I go back home in August.” Casey answered.
“So your basically gone until you need to back at Diagon Alley to get your stuff for next year.”
“Pretty much.” Casey said with a shrug as he continued to shovel the delicious food into his mouth. Adam had warned him that the living situation in Romania isn’t the best since they are in Dragon country, so he was using tonight as his last opportunity to eat food that was actually edible.
“I know that Reid is insanely jealous that you get to play with Dragons all summer. I mean, fuck I’m super jealous too.”
“Yeah, but you’ll be off on your apprenticeship at the Daily Prophet, like that is pretty fucking cool as well.”
“I know, it’s hard to believe that I’m one step closer to working there.”
“It’s hard to believe that we have actually reached the point in our wizarding life that we are already thinking about what we want to do for the rest of our lives. These six years have flown by and next year is going to move even faster” Noah added.
“It’s pretty fucking crazy.” Casey said, while shoving more food into his mouth.
All three of them continued to enjoy their last dinner together as they idly talked about their upcoming summer. They had all come a long way in the past year and as cliché as it sounds, they had definitely grown up a lot this past year.
“Alright losers, I can see Alli eying me across the room so I think I’m going to get going.” Casey said, finally pushing is plate into the middle of the table. The remnants of all the delicious desserts magically disappearing with the plate.
“Yeah I should probably get to our meeting place. I saw Maddie leave almost a half hour ago, and I know she hates it when I’m late.”
Luke said good night to his friends, but stayed at the Gryffindor table for a while longer. The Great Hall was now almost completely empty, and sometimes he just enjoyed the quiet of the giant space.
The candles were slowly dying down and Luke continued to take in the soft ambiance of the massive room.
“Saving that seat for anybody?”
Normally, Luke would have been startled to have somebody whisper into his ear, but just hearing Reid’s low voice, made his warm up from the inside out, and he already knew before he turned to face Reid that he had a ridiculous smile on his face.
Reid loved that fact that Luke still looked at him the same way he did just over a year ago when they shared their first detention together.
Reid slid into the spot next to Luke and kissed him softly.
“Congrats on another win.” Luke whispered into Reid’s lips, before sealing them together again.
Reid smiled into the delicate kiss, completely content if this moment never ended.
“It was nothing.” Reid laughed.
“How are you doing?” Luke could sense the subtle sadness in Reid’s voice. This has been his home for the past seven years, and this was it. This was the end.
“It is what it is.” Reid said bravely.
“Do you want to go exploring?” Luke asked, knowing that that would be the only way that Reid would want to spend his last night at the Castle.
“Where did you have in mind?”
“Just here and there.”
“That is very specific.”
“Just go with it, Mr. Control Freak.”
“If I didn’t love you so much, I would be offended.”
“Reid Oliver. Offended. That might also be a first.” Luke said with a big smile.
“Shut up.” Reid said, laughing into Luke for one last kiss before getting up from the table. “Let’s go before the candles die and we are stuck here in the dark.”
“That actually doesn’t sound that bad. I know plenty of things that we can do in the dark.”
“Oh god, stop reminding me that I won't be here next year to fucking do you in every room here.”
“I’m actually kind of surprised we haven’t done anything in the Great Hall.”
“Let’s change that.” Reid said, stopping dead in his tracks, grabbing Luke by the hips, pulling him closer, and kissing him harshly on the lips. Luke protested at first, caught off guard by the suddenness, but quickly gave into the impromptu make out session in the middle of the darkening Great Hall.
“There, now you can cross that off your list.” Reid said, lips glistening.
Luke just nodded his head, unable to speak.
“Come on.” Reid said, grabbing Luke’s hand and dragging his stunned boyfriend out of the Hall.
“How is it still possible that you leave me completely breathless?”
“It’s because I am amazing.” Reid said without a second hesitation. “And you knew that going into this, so get it together and hurry up. We need to get to the doors before Feltch starts making his way in this direction.”
Luke laughed at Reid’s blatant honesty, but it was true. Reid was amazing.
“Wait, where are we going? And I thought I was leading us?”
“You had your chance Snyder, but you turned into a sexy pile of mush and I had to take the reigns.”
“It is completely unfair that you use your sex appeal against me.”
“Trust me Snyder, it works both ways. Now lets go!”
Reid grabbed Luke’s hand and started dragging him towards the door. He knew Feltch’s schedule like the back of his hand. It was Mrs. Norris that he was more concerned about running into. It’s not that Feltch could do anything to him anyways, since it was his last night, but he could make Luke’s seventh year a living hell and he didn’t want that.
They scurried through the castle, and safely made it outside without being seen by anybody. But it seems as if every couple in the entire castle had been thinking the same thing as them, as there were dozens of pairs, walking quietly through the dark.
Reid didn’t want to be near all these people, so again he grabbed Luke’s hand and quickly started pulling him through the dark and further away from the Castle.
It wasn’t until Reid finally slowed down that Luke was able to ask him where they were going.
“Reid, where are you dragging me?”
“You’ll see.”
“You know whenever you say that, it makes me a little bit nervous.”
“Trust me.”
Luke followed Reid as they continued to get further and further away from the Castle.
“Stop.”
“Here?”
“Yeah.”
“Where are we?”
Reid leaned down and picked up a small rock. He didn’t even need to throw it very far before Luke heard the familiar sound of a splash of water.
“The Black Lake?”
“I’ll be honest. I’ve never been here at night.”
Once Luke’s eyes fully adjusted to the darkness, he understood why Reid wanted to come here.
The stars multiplied as they reflected on the top of the water, and the glowing outline of the Castle laid mirrored on the dark lake.
Reid moved to sit on the soft grass. The air was still warm with the kiss of summer in the air. It was the perfect night.
Luke followed Reid and sat down next to him. Reid wrapped his arm around his shoulder pulling him closer into his body. He rested his head on Reid’s shoulder and just stared off into the deep water.
“You know, when I first met you, you told me that you didn’t believe in romance. That you probably wouldn’t remember my birthday, and that I would be lucky if you ever shared your food with me. But now look at you, dragging me out to a beautiful lake, looking at the stars, and I’ve honestly never felt closer to anybody in my entire life.”
“If you even tell one person, especially Katie I’ll…”
“…My lips are sealed.”
“Are they?”
“No, but you can change that.” Luke said as he leaned in to meet Reid for another kiss. It was rare that Reid ever showed this side of him, so Luke was going to milk it for all it was worth.
Reid pushed against Luke’s chest, forcing him to lie down. He didn’t break the kiss as he molded his body against Luke’s, completing their complicated puzzle.
Luke left his mouth open as Reid kissed down the side of his face, slowly tracing along his jawbone, leaving a wet trace that sent chills through his entire body as Reid matched the light strokes of his fingers with the breeze of the wind. It was as if Reid had a sixth sense and knew exactly what to do to make him completely full of want and desire.
Time felt irrelevant as the dark continued to blanket the night sky.
Their make out had died a while back, and they were quietly embracing the still darkness next to the lake.
Luke was trying not to fall asleep right there on the grass because he didn’t want this night to ever end. This would be the last night he would ever spend with Reid at Hogwarts and he didn’t want to miss a second of it.
However, Reid felt Luke stirring against him.
“We should head back inside. It’s probably past midnight and the train leaves early in the morning.”
“And an incredible summer awaits us.” Luke said, breathing a kiss into Reid's lips.
Luke moved first, pushing himself up off the grass. He brushed himself off before quickly extending his hand out to Reid, pulling him up.
The slowly made it back to the Castle. Every body who had been outside before had already gone back inside and it was still just the two of them as they snuck back into the Castle.
Reid started to walk in the direction of the Gryffindor tower, but Luke didn’t’ want to spend his last night away from Reid.
Luke tugged at Reid’s hand when they reached their decisive crossroad. One path leading towards Gryffindor, the other to the seventh floor.
Reid was surprised to feel Luke pull him in the direction of the stairs that would take them to the seventh floor. He would have thought that Luke would have wanted to sleep in his own dormitory, but he was happy with Luke’s decision.
“See, this is what happens when I take the lead.” Luke said with a smile as Reid quickly made the secret door to the Room of Requirements appear.
Reid laughed as he pulled Luke into a kiss, breaking it only in time to make it inside the room before the doors disappeared.
The room looked the same as it always did, minus all of Reid’s stuff which has been packed away in the days prior.
“We definitely put this room to good use didn’t we?” Luke said as he looked around, taking it all in. This would probably be his last time in here; he already knew that next year it would be too hard to come back.
“I would say that is very accurate.”
“How did you even find this place?” Luke had realized that he had never even asked before.
“Dumbledore hinted about it during my first year. I had been complaining that I needed my own space and well, it was kind of perfect for that.”
“So perfect.”
There were no other words as they got ready for their last night. They were both exhausted from a long day of packing and the emotional toll that the last night always brought.
Luke crawled into bed first, his head sinking into the pillow. Reid was right behind him, taking his familiar position. Luke curled up into Reid’s body.
In that exact moment, their complicated puzzle finally felt complete.
--
Reid was already awake, dressed, and out of the bed when Luke woke up. It took him a minute to wake up, but he saw that Reid was just sitting at the vacant desk, unconsciously twirling his hand between his fingers.
“What time is it?”
“Almost eight.”
“What time does the train leave?”
“Nine.”
Luke groaned at how early the train was leaving this year (even though it left at the same time every year, it always seemed to be earlier and earlier.) But he climbed out of bed and got dressed as Reid continued to just sit and stare absentmindedly around the room.
Luke was thankful that his trunk was already packed which meant that it was already on its way to the train and was probably already loaded, so he wouldn't need to go back to Gryffindor Tower.
“Ready to go?” Reid asked, getting up from the desk.
“Yeah.”
They made their way towards the door, but before Reid opened it, he leaned in and gave Luke one last kiss.
“Okay, let’s go.”
The two of them walked hand and hand towards the Great Hall where everybody waited to be lead down to the Hogwarts Express. The atmosphere was buzzing with energy as everybody was getting in their last good byes to friends they wouldn’t see on the train and to all the Hogwarts inhabitants who lived here over the summer.
“ ‘right e’erybody, time to go.” Hagrid’s said as is voice boomed over the mummer of all the students.
Luke and Reid followed the mass of students as they all made their way out of the Castle.
Reid was quiet and Luke knew that he was taking it all in. He knew that Reid was extremely excited for his future at St. Mungo’s, but he knew that this was hard for him.
However, Luke felt a shift in Reid’s demeanor when he felt Reid release his hand from his and snake his arm around his hip, pulling him closer to him. Luke smiled as he mimicked Reid’s position.
Only a year ago, Luke didn’t know if what he had with Reid was just a fling or possible something more. He never would have guessed that they would be where they were today, openly walking together to the Hogwarts Express, and so in love with each other. He knew that Reid didn’t say it often, it just wasn’t who Reid was. But he showed it every day, with even something as simple as walking arm and arm through a crowd of people.
He knew he should get over it, but sometimes he was just so amazed that Reid fell in love with him.
They finally made it to the train, and since Luke was Head Boy he got to have a compartment that was more personal in size.
They took their seats, sitting next to each other, fingers intertwined.
“I thought I might feel different.” Reid finally said, speaking a complete sentence for the first time since this morning.
Luke had tried to avoid this subject at all cost. He knew that Reid was going to miss Hogwarts immensely next year, especially when it would be time for him to go back, but this statement was encouraging.
“How do you feel?” Luke asked, taking the bait.
“I’m happy. I’m fucking happy for the first time in my life.”
Luke beamed at Reid, who in turn looked just as happy as he sounded.
“We’ve been through a lot and this is just our next chapter, and I’m excited. I can’t wait to start becoming the greatest Healer wizarding London has ever seen, and I can’t wait to share it all with you. I’ll be honest, I am going to miss being here, but before you I didn’t really have a place to call home. But now I know that anywhere I am with you is my home.”
Luke blushed. He was still getting used to Reid sharing his actual feelings with him, and whenever he said things like that, he couldn't help but feel the familiar crimson burn on his cheeks.
“Now enough with this sentimental shit, let’s just snog the rest of the way.”
Luke laughed, and per usual, Reid silenced his laugh with a strong kiss that had him breathing heavy and pushed up against the glass.
“I fucking love you, Reid Oliver.” Luke breathlessly kissed into Reid’s lips.
“Feelings mutual Snyder.”
--
19 Years Later
“Why is everybody staring at us?” Reid asked as he looked around the familiar Platform 9 & ¾
“Ahh, I can see you ate your humble pie this morning.” Luke said laughing as he leaned in to kiss his ridiculously handsome husband.
After a five years at St. Mungo’s Reid finally caved in and joined the Puddlemere United professional Qudditch team where they won six consecutive Qudditch championships and two Qudditch World Cups. After his second World Cup championship, Reid finally retired his broom, and resumed his position at St. Mungo’s quickly moving up the ranks. He now currently sits as the head of St. Mungo’s even though he is one of the biggest celebrities in all of England.
“Come on Dad, hurry up!” Ella said as she tugged on Luke’s hand trying to get them to walk faster.
Luke let go of her hand and let her run ahead, as she spotted one of her friends from grammar school up ahead.
“I cannot believe that she is already going off to School.” Luke said as he watched his only daughter run up ahead, too excited to wait for her Dads. “Which house do you think she’ll be sorted into?”
“As long as she’s not a Huf…”
“Do not finish that thought.”
“You’re right. I’ll be happy no matter what House she gets into.”
“Luke!”
Luke turned around to see Casey pushing a cart piled sky high full of luggage and three owls hanging off the side.
“Casey! How are you?”
“Tired of pushing this cart. Can you believe that I’m sending my fourth one off this year?”
“Actually,” Reid butt in, “it still baffles me that you were allowed to procreate more than…”
“Reid, do not finish that thought.” Luke said, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face. Try as he might, even when Reid got snarky with his friends, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“How is Alli?”
“She stayed home with the little ones.”
“Have you seen Noah yet?” Casey asked as he finally got his cart to the loading station, where it would be taken off his hands.
“Not yet, but you know Noah, he’s never on time.”
“Actually, if I remember correctly that was you who was always late.”
“I’ll take the blame for that.” Reid said with a cheeky smile.
“You know what? Why don’t you go find Ella, and leave Casey alone, since you still haven’t matured.”
“You love it.”
“No, I love you. Big difference.”
“Same difference.”
“You are insufferable.”
Reid laughed as he let Luke give him a small kiss, before leaving Luke to his friend.
Reid wandered through the crowd, as he watched the eyes of all the young boys and girls who hero-worshipped him. He would probably say that 85% of them couldn’t believe that he was really there, in the flesh.
“Ella.” Reid said when he found here near a group of other fresh first years. She was already the life of the party and Reid had zero concerns about her going off to school for the first time.
“Yes Dad?” Ella asked as she turned around, a huge smile on her face. Excited for the year ahead of her.
“Can you come here a second?”
“Sure!” Ella said as she bounded over to her dad.
“Your father just wanted me to check in with you.”
“Dad, I’ll be fineee.” Ella whined, embarrassed that her dad was checking in on her. She was eleven years old, she could handle herself.
“I know that, but you know how your father gets.”
“I know.”
“Okay, good. If I were you, I would go back over to him. He’s going to miss you like crazy.”
“What about you? Aren’t you going to miss me?”
“Probably not.” Reid said with a laugh. His daughter was too smart for her own good and knew when he was joking. Thankfully, she was also exactly like Luke and had a heart bigger than the moon. She was perfect balance of the two of them.
“Excuse me, I cannot believe that you just said that to your daughter.”
“Aunt Katie! Jacob!” Ella shrieked when she saw Katie and Jacob, who was also going to be a first year. Even though they weren’t related by blood, Ella considered Katie her aunt (on Reid’s side of the family, of course.)
“Hey little one.” Katie said planting a kiss on the top of Ella’s golden blonde hair.
“Hey Ella.” Jacob said
“Ella, why don’t you grab Jacob and go back over to your father?”
“Okay Dad. Wanna come Jacob?”
“Yeah.”
As the two of them walked away, Reid heard Ella declare that she already knew she was going to be a Slytherin and Reid smiled proudly to himself before turning his attention back to Katie.
“Who would have ever thought that we would be here one day, dropping our kids off at the Hogwarts Express?”
“This is where we met almost twenty-six years ago.”
“I can’t believe that you remember that we met on the train.”
“You were annoying as hell, how could I forget?”
“You love me.”
“This is true.” Reid said, giving Katie a long over due kiss on the cheek.
“How is Luke?”
“A nervous wreck. What about you?”
“A nervous wreck.” She said with a smile.
The whistle to the Hogwarts Express blew it’s first warning whistle, letting everybody know it was leaving in five minutes.
“Alright, let’s go say bye to our kids.”
Reid and Katie weaved their way through the mass of parents back over to where Luke was. Noah had arrived and the three old friends were talking while Cooper (Noah’s son), Ella, Jacob, and Jameson (Casey’s daughter) were just outside of their parents circle.
“Hi Katie.” Luke said, opening up their circle, allowing Reid to settle in next to him.
“Hey Luke, good to see you.”
They shared a reassuring smile, knowing that they had to let go, and allow their babies to have an amazing first year.
“Alright Ella, you ready to go?” Luke asked.
“Yes, yes, yes! I’ve been waiting so long!” Ella said excitedly as she bounced around, unable to control her excitement. Luke kneeled down next to her to get closer to eye level.
“You are going to behave right? I know that Dad has told you too many of his stories of when he was at school, but there are times to break the rules and times to follow them.”
“I’m going to be good, I promise!”
“You do what your teachers ask of you, and you study hard. Make as many friends as you possibly can. Learn a lot.”
“Daddd” Ella complained and Reid shot her a sympathetic look.
“Ella, listen to your father.” Reid said, bending down next to Luke.
“But, I know all this already.”
The whistle blew a second time.
“Alright, you can get on the train. Give me a kiss.” Reid said and Ella gave both her Dads a quick kiss before running up the stairs of the train. As she reached the top of the steps she turned around, and with a huge smile, waved to both of them before disappearing into the depths of the Hogwarts Express.
“And that’s that.” Luke said as the train blew it’s whistle a third time, and the wheels slowly started to move.
“She’ll be fine. I survived, you survived.”
“I know.”
“Plus, we don’t need to worry about her until her fifth year, that’s when you Synder’s start getting frisky.”
“Oh my god, I don’t even want to think about that yet, so much for easing my mind.” Luke said with a laugh. Reid always knew the absolutely wrong thing to say, even if it did make him laugh.
“Let’s go home and celebrate an empty house.” Reid said, loud enough for all their friends to hear.
“Gross.” Noah and Casey said at almost the exact same time.
“Some things clearly never change.” Katie said to herself as she shook her head.
Reid just smirked as he planted a hard kiss right on Luke’s lips.
And in mid-kiss, Reid apparited them off of Platform 9 & 3/4 and straight back to their London flat, where they wasted no time enjoying having an empty house.
THE END!
Author: hugocabret
Pairing: Luke/Reid
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 5800
Series Word Count: ~123,936
Summary/Prompt: Luke and Reid spend their last day at the Castle.
Author's note: I'm getting kind of emotional writing this Author's Note. This is the final chapter of the Hogwarts Series. For over a year and a half I have been writing this little story, but I feel like it is time for it to end. Once again, a simple one-shot has turned into a story of epic proportions (I think word count wise it falls somewhere in between the size of the 4th HP book and the 5th, which is mindblowing to me) and it's your constant encouragement that keeps me writing. This chapter + epilogue was the hardest thing I have ever had to write. This is easily version number fifteen because I just could not finish it. However, this story has been so much fun to write and I am so happy that I got to share it with all of you. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much!! I love you all!!
Also p.s. thank you not ripping me apart on my hp knowledge. I honestly tried my best to keep the verse as real as possible. THANKS!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own ATWT or HARRY POTTER
Luke Snyder and the Room of Requirements
Luke Snyder and the Felix Felicis
Luke Snyder and Advanced Potion Making
Luke Snyder and Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop: Part 1
Luke Snyder and Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop: Part 2
Luke Snyder and the Mirror of Erised
Luke Snyder and the Hospital Wing
Luke Snyder and the Herbology Greenhouse
Luke Snyder and the Ravenclaw Quidditch Practice
Luke Snyder and the Three Broomsticks
Luke Snyder and the Adventures of Martin Miggle, the Mad Muggle
Luke Snyder and the Weird Sisters
Luke Snyder and Tessomacy (Tealeaf Readings)
Luke Snyder and the Pensieve: Part 1
Luke Snyder and the Pensieve: Part 2
Luke Snyder and the Letter from Hippocrates Smethwyck
Luke Snyder and the Prefect's Bathroom
Luke Snyder and the Amortentia Potion
Luke Snyder and the Quidditch Cup: Part 1
Luke Snyder and the Quidditch Cup: Part 2
Luke Snyder and the Quidditch Cup: Part 3
Luke Snyder and the Apparition Exam
“Another year over.” Casey said nonchalantly as he sat on the end of his bed, trying to force his foot into a too-tightly tied sneakers. All three of them where getting ready to go down to the Great Hall for the presentation of the House Cup. The presentation always took place on the last night in the Castle.
“I can’t believe we only have our N.E.W.Ts left and then we are done. Didn’t 7th year seem like a million years away when we were in that first Potions class?” Noah said as he checked his tie in the mirror before throwing is robe on over his head.
“I specifically remember thinking to myself as I left that class, ‘seven more years of Snape! How will I ever survive?’” Casey said as he finally got his foot jammed into his shoe.
“It’s crazy how fast this year went.” Luke chimed in. “And I think once we graduate we probably will miss Snape.”
“Now that’s just insane.” Noah laughed.
“Alright, its almost six, we should go meet the girls now.” Casey mumbled, his face full of robe as he put it on.
Luke hopped off his bed and they followed all the students who were heading towards the Great Hall for the last dinner at Hogwarts. Alli and Maddie were waiting for them just outside the doors.
“Hey babe.” Casey said, kissing Alli on the cheek.
“Hey guys.” Maddie said, while leaning into a kiss from Noah.
“Are you guys all packed?” Alli asked, grabbing Casey’s hand.
“Just gotta close and lock my trunk.” Noah said
“Same.” Luke added
“What about you Casey?” Alli said, looking towards her boyfriend. Noah and Luke just laughed. “…Casey?”
“I’m going to do it tonight.”
“Tonight! We were supposed to hang out tonight. We won’t see each other for three months after tomorrow, and you are going to waste our last night together packing! Look at Noah and Luke, they aren’t stupid, they understand the importance of the last night.”
“Ouch.” Noah laughed
“Do you want me to just skip the dinner and pack now? And for the record, Luke will get to see Reid every day this summer, so he doesn’t really count.”
“Oh no.” Luke said, Maddie and Noah looked scared for what was going to come next.
“Are. You. Kidding. Me.” Alli said. “That makes even less sense.”
“Babe.”
“Don’t babe me. Let’s just go to dinner and you can pack afterwards.”
The girls went towards their respective tables and the boys settled in at the Gryffindor table. There were only a couple nights out of the school year where it was mandatory to sit with your house, and tonight was one of them.
“Dude, you are so stupid sometimes. You were lucky we had to go to dinner, because if we hadn’t, she would still be screaming at you.”
“I was wondering why you guys spent all day cleaning, it didn’t even occur to me that it was so you could get laid.”
Luke and Noah just laughed as their took their seats. They were some of the last people to come into the Great Hall, and Dumbledore was already up and out of his seat, making his way towards the wonderful podium.
“Quiet please, quiet please.” Dumbledore said. His voice low and calm. Fatherly.
The room slowly came to a dull quiet.
“Another year has ended.” Dumbledore announced with a bright and booming voice. It was at this time that Luke was finally able to take in the decorations of the Great Hall.
The ceiling was adorn in silver and dark forest green banners. The colors draped down the sides, billowing at the ends. The candles floating above their heads were carved with snakeheads.
It was clear that Slytherin had won the House Cup this year.
Luke glanced towards the hourglasses towards the front of the Hall, and it looked as if Slytherin had just barely beaten out Gryffindor, it couldn't be by more than twenty points.
“And as always I apologize for making you listen to your old headmaster talk, but this has been a wonderful year. One for the books as they say. I hope with all my heart that this year you learned as much as possible. That you have made new friends and kept your old, for that is the greatest gift this school can give you.
“Now, it is time to present the House Cup. In fourth place, Hufflepuff with two hundred and fifty-six points. Well done Hufflepuff.”
The tables all cheered and some of the students from the Hufflepuff house got to the feet cheering louder than the rest.
“In third place, by only thirty points, Ravenclaw, with three-hundred and ninety-eight points.”
The tables cheered again.
“In second place, and again by only fifteen points separating them from first place, Gryffindor, with four-hundred and twenty-eight points! Which means that this years House Cup is awarded to Slytherin with a grand total of four-hundred and forty-three points.”
The Great Hall exploded with cheers from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Silver and Green confetti fell from the ceiling, reminding everybody who the winners were. Snape sat up at the grand table with a smug smile on his face.
“Thank you for a wonderful year, and lets enjoy this delicious feast!”
The cheering settled and the food appeared and everybody wasted no time diving into the enchanting morsels of food.
“We were so close.” Luke said, looking back up towards the hourglasses containing the stones of each house. “I really wanted to win the House Cup while I was head boy.”
“You’ll still be Head Boy next year too and I’m pretty that most of those points belong to Reid that Snape gives him, so we’ll probably win next year.” Casey said.
Luke laughed, “You’re probably right.”
“And, we I have a feeling that we’ll win the Quidditch Cup too.” Noah added. “Since Reid was their best player, we will totally be able to take them next year.”
“What are you guys trying to do? Kill me with reminders that Reid won’t be here next year?” Luke said, half joking, half serious. “However, it’s actually kinda strange how much influence Reid has over this place.”
“Well, what do you expect, it was his own personal playground for seven years. He pretty much got to do whatever he wanted, including you.” Noah said.
“First off, ew that was gross. And aren’t you at all worried what next year will be like without Maddie?” Luke asked, completely offended by Noah’s blunt statement about his sex life, even if it was true.
“We’ll be fine.”
“How can you be so sure?” Casey asked “I know I’m lucky that Alli is also in our year. But like, before you settled down with Maddie, you were kinda a player, and everybody knows how good the fifth years look after maturing over the summer.”
“Alright, I’ll say it again. That was gross.” Luke said, as he shoved a forkfull of food into this mouth.
“Maddie trusts me and I trust her. We’ve talked about this. If the weekend Hogsmeade visits and Quidditch matches don’t give us the time we need to stay together then we won’t. If we find that we need more time than what we have then we decided we would end it. We don’t need to let ourselves suffer.”
“Isn’t suffering the basis of all relationships?” Casey laughed.
“I don’t think I could ever end things with Reid.” Luke added.
“You two do not count.” Noah said.
“How so?”
“Have you ever seen how you two act when you are together? It’s like nobody else exists.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda gross actually.”
“When have either of you ever seen us together?”
“The fact that you are so blind to this fact is kind of ridiculous.” Noah said rolling his eyes.
“Ever since you guys actually came out…”
Luke gave Casey a glare because he always hated that terminology
“…as a couple…Luke, let me finish. And stop getting defensive.”
“I’m not getting defensive!”
“Uh huh…anyways, you two seek each other out in the halls like heat-seeking missiles. When you are in the library, you guys practically talk across tables with just your eyes. Not to mention, you have a gross new hickey almost every day.”
Luke’s face turned red at the last bit. He knew that Reid did that on purpose but he always tried his best to hide them. He was embarrassed with the fact that he did a horrible job of hiding them.
“Well, it’s actually kind of nice to hear how supportive you guys are of this. I didn’t know this was going to happened, and I almost ruined everything because I was so worried that you guys would hate me.”
“Dude, you guys will be together forever. And we are happy for you. You were nothing but supportive of all my relationships no matter how bad they were and you have always been so nice to Maddie Plus you love Alli, so Casey and I have no reason to ever want your relationship to fail.”
“Yeah, we are friends for life. Fuck we’re practically brothers.” Casey said, mouth full of food.
“Right.” Noah said nailing the point in one more time.
“So, this summer, when are we all going to get together. Screw our boy and girlfriends, I think three months without you guys will be harder.” Luke said, lifting the mood just ever so slightly. Things always tended to feel heavier around the end of the school year.
“I know my family is planning a trip to London in July, I’ll be there for two weeks visiting my cousins so I’ll definitely see you then.” Noah said. “Case, how long are you visiting your half-brother?”
“I leave for Romania in two weeks, spending six with him there working with Adam with the dragons, and then I’ll be in London right before I go back home in August.” Casey answered.
“So your basically gone until you need to back at Diagon Alley to get your stuff for next year.”
“Pretty much.” Casey said with a shrug as he continued to shovel the delicious food into his mouth. Adam had warned him that the living situation in Romania isn’t the best since they are in Dragon country, so he was using tonight as his last opportunity to eat food that was actually edible.
“I know that Reid is insanely jealous that you get to play with Dragons all summer. I mean, fuck I’m super jealous too.”
“Yeah, but you’ll be off on your apprenticeship at the Daily Prophet, like that is pretty fucking cool as well.”
“I know, it’s hard to believe that I’m one step closer to working there.”
“It’s hard to believe that we have actually reached the point in our wizarding life that we are already thinking about what we want to do for the rest of our lives. These six years have flown by and next year is going to move even faster” Noah added.
“It’s pretty fucking crazy.” Casey said, while shoving more food into his mouth.
All three of them continued to enjoy their last dinner together as they idly talked about their upcoming summer. They had all come a long way in the past year and as cliché as it sounds, they had definitely grown up a lot this past year.
“Alright losers, I can see Alli eying me across the room so I think I’m going to get going.” Casey said, finally pushing is plate into the middle of the table. The remnants of all the delicious desserts magically disappearing with the plate.
“Yeah I should probably get to our meeting place. I saw Maddie leave almost a half hour ago, and I know she hates it when I’m late.”
Luke said good night to his friends, but stayed at the Gryffindor table for a while longer. The Great Hall was now almost completely empty, and sometimes he just enjoyed the quiet of the giant space.
The candles were slowly dying down and Luke continued to take in the soft ambiance of the massive room.
“Saving that seat for anybody?”
Normally, Luke would have been startled to have somebody whisper into his ear, but just hearing Reid’s low voice, made his warm up from the inside out, and he already knew before he turned to face Reid that he had a ridiculous smile on his face.
Reid loved that fact that Luke still looked at him the same way he did just over a year ago when they shared their first detention together.
Reid slid into the spot next to Luke and kissed him softly.
“Congrats on another win.” Luke whispered into Reid’s lips, before sealing them together again.
Reid smiled into the delicate kiss, completely content if this moment never ended.
“It was nothing.” Reid laughed.
“How are you doing?” Luke could sense the subtle sadness in Reid’s voice. This has been his home for the past seven years, and this was it. This was the end.
“It is what it is.” Reid said bravely.
“Do you want to go exploring?” Luke asked, knowing that that would be the only way that Reid would want to spend his last night at the Castle.
“Where did you have in mind?”
“Just here and there.”
“That is very specific.”
“Just go with it, Mr. Control Freak.”
“If I didn’t love you so much, I would be offended.”
“Reid Oliver. Offended. That might also be a first.” Luke said with a big smile.
“Shut up.” Reid said, laughing into Luke for one last kiss before getting up from the table. “Let’s go before the candles die and we are stuck here in the dark.”
“That actually doesn’t sound that bad. I know plenty of things that we can do in the dark.”
“Oh god, stop reminding me that I won't be here next year to fucking do you in every room here.”
“I’m actually kind of surprised we haven’t done anything in the Great Hall.”
“Let’s change that.” Reid said, stopping dead in his tracks, grabbing Luke by the hips, pulling him closer, and kissing him harshly on the lips. Luke protested at first, caught off guard by the suddenness, but quickly gave into the impromptu make out session in the middle of the darkening Great Hall.
“There, now you can cross that off your list.” Reid said, lips glistening.
Luke just nodded his head, unable to speak.
“Come on.” Reid said, grabbing Luke’s hand and dragging his stunned boyfriend out of the Hall.
“How is it still possible that you leave me completely breathless?”
“It’s because I am amazing.” Reid said without a second hesitation. “And you knew that going into this, so get it together and hurry up. We need to get to the doors before Feltch starts making his way in this direction.”
Luke laughed at Reid’s blatant honesty, but it was true. Reid was amazing.
“Wait, where are we going? And I thought I was leading us?”
“You had your chance Snyder, but you turned into a sexy pile of mush and I had to take the reigns.”
“It is completely unfair that you use your sex appeal against me.”
“Trust me Snyder, it works both ways. Now lets go!”
Reid grabbed Luke’s hand and started dragging him towards the door. He knew Feltch’s schedule like the back of his hand. It was Mrs. Norris that he was more concerned about running into. It’s not that Feltch could do anything to him anyways, since it was his last night, but he could make Luke’s seventh year a living hell and he didn’t want that.
They scurried through the castle, and safely made it outside without being seen by anybody. But it seems as if every couple in the entire castle had been thinking the same thing as them, as there were dozens of pairs, walking quietly through the dark.
Reid didn’t want to be near all these people, so again he grabbed Luke’s hand and quickly started pulling him through the dark and further away from the Castle.
It wasn’t until Reid finally slowed down that Luke was able to ask him where they were going.
“Reid, where are you dragging me?”
“You’ll see.”
“You know whenever you say that, it makes me a little bit nervous.”
“Trust me.”
Luke followed Reid as they continued to get further and further away from the Castle.
“Stop.”
“Here?”
“Yeah.”
“Where are we?”
Reid leaned down and picked up a small rock. He didn’t even need to throw it very far before Luke heard the familiar sound of a splash of water.
“The Black Lake?”
“I’ll be honest. I’ve never been here at night.”
Once Luke’s eyes fully adjusted to the darkness, he understood why Reid wanted to come here.
The stars multiplied as they reflected on the top of the water, and the glowing outline of the Castle laid mirrored on the dark lake.
Reid moved to sit on the soft grass. The air was still warm with the kiss of summer in the air. It was the perfect night.
Luke followed Reid and sat down next to him. Reid wrapped his arm around his shoulder pulling him closer into his body. He rested his head on Reid’s shoulder and just stared off into the deep water.
“You know, when I first met you, you told me that you didn’t believe in romance. That you probably wouldn’t remember my birthday, and that I would be lucky if you ever shared your food with me. But now look at you, dragging me out to a beautiful lake, looking at the stars, and I’ve honestly never felt closer to anybody in my entire life.”
“If you even tell one person, especially Katie I’ll…”
“…My lips are sealed.”
“Are they?”
“No, but you can change that.” Luke said as he leaned in to meet Reid for another kiss. It was rare that Reid ever showed this side of him, so Luke was going to milk it for all it was worth.
Reid pushed against Luke’s chest, forcing him to lie down. He didn’t break the kiss as he molded his body against Luke’s, completing their complicated puzzle.
Luke left his mouth open as Reid kissed down the side of his face, slowly tracing along his jawbone, leaving a wet trace that sent chills through his entire body as Reid matched the light strokes of his fingers with the breeze of the wind. It was as if Reid had a sixth sense and knew exactly what to do to make him completely full of want and desire.
Time felt irrelevant as the dark continued to blanket the night sky.
Their make out had died a while back, and they were quietly embracing the still darkness next to the lake.
Luke was trying not to fall asleep right there on the grass because he didn’t want this night to ever end. This would be the last night he would ever spend with Reid at Hogwarts and he didn’t want to miss a second of it.
However, Reid felt Luke stirring against him.
“We should head back inside. It’s probably past midnight and the train leaves early in the morning.”
“And an incredible summer awaits us.” Luke said, breathing a kiss into Reid's lips.
Luke moved first, pushing himself up off the grass. He brushed himself off before quickly extending his hand out to Reid, pulling him up.
The slowly made it back to the Castle. Every body who had been outside before had already gone back inside and it was still just the two of them as they snuck back into the Castle.
Reid started to walk in the direction of the Gryffindor tower, but Luke didn’t’ want to spend his last night away from Reid.
Luke tugged at Reid’s hand when they reached their decisive crossroad. One path leading towards Gryffindor, the other to the seventh floor.
Reid was surprised to feel Luke pull him in the direction of the stairs that would take them to the seventh floor. He would have thought that Luke would have wanted to sleep in his own dormitory, but he was happy with Luke’s decision.
“See, this is what happens when I take the lead.” Luke said with a smile as Reid quickly made the secret door to the Room of Requirements appear.
Reid laughed as he pulled Luke into a kiss, breaking it only in time to make it inside the room before the doors disappeared.
The room looked the same as it always did, minus all of Reid’s stuff which has been packed away in the days prior.
“We definitely put this room to good use didn’t we?” Luke said as he looked around, taking it all in. This would probably be his last time in here; he already knew that next year it would be too hard to come back.
“I would say that is very accurate.”
“How did you even find this place?” Luke had realized that he had never even asked before.
“Dumbledore hinted about it during my first year. I had been complaining that I needed my own space and well, it was kind of perfect for that.”
“So perfect.”
There were no other words as they got ready for their last night. They were both exhausted from a long day of packing and the emotional toll that the last night always brought.
Luke crawled into bed first, his head sinking into the pillow. Reid was right behind him, taking his familiar position. Luke curled up into Reid’s body.
In that exact moment, their complicated puzzle finally felt complete.
--
Reid was already awake, dressed, and out of the bed when Luke woke up. It took him a minute to wake up, but he saw that Reid was just sitting at the vacant desk, unconsciously twirling his hand between his fingers.
“What time is it?”
“Almost eight.”
“What time does the train leave?”
“Nine.”
Luke groaned at how early the train was leaving this year (even though it left at the same time every year, it always seemed to be earlier and earlier.) But he climbed out of bed and got dressed as Reid continued to just sit and stare absentmindedly around the room.
Luke was thankful that his trunk was already packed which meant that it was already on its way to the train and was probably already loaded, so he wouldn't need to go back to Gryffindor Tower.
“Ready to go?” Reid asked, getting up from the desk.
“Yeah.”
They made their way towards the door, but before Reid opened it, he leaned in and gave Luke one last kiss.
“Okay, let’s go.”
The two of them walked hand and hand towards the Great Hall where everybody waited to be lead down to the Hogwarts Express. The atmosphere was buzzing with energy as everybody was getting in their last good byes to friends they wouldn’t see on the train and to all the Hogwarts inhabitants who lived here over the summer.
“ ‘right e’erybody, time to go.” Hagrid’s said as is voice boomed over the mummer of all the students.
Luke and Reid followed the mass of students as they all made their way out of the Castle.
Reid was quiet and Luke knew that he was taking it all in. He knew that Reid was extremely excited for his future at St. Mungo’s, but he knew that this was hard for him.
However, Luke felt a shift in Reid’s demeanor when he felt Reid release his hand from his and snake his arm around his hip, pulling him closer to him. Luke smiled as he mimicked Reid’s position.
Only a year ago, Luke didn’t know if what he had with Reid was just a fling or possible something more. He never would have guessed that they would be where they were today, openly walking together to the Hogwarts Express, and so in love with each other. He knew that Reid didn’t say it often, it just wasn’t who Reid was. But he showed it every day, with even something as simple as walking arm and arm through a crowd of people.
He knew he should get over it, but sometimes he was just so amazed that Reid fell in love with him.
They finally made it to the train, and since Luke was Head Boy he got to have a compartment that was more personal in size.
They took their seats, sitting next to each other, fingers intertwined.
“I thought I might feel different.” Reid finally said, speaking a complete sentence for the first time since this morning.
Luke had tried to avoid this subject at all cost. He knew that Reid was going to miss Hogwarts immensely next year, especially when it would be time for him to go back, but this statement was encouraging.
“How do you feel?” Luke asked, taking the bait.
“I’m happy. I’m fucking happy for the first time in my life.”
Luke beamed at Reid, who in turn looked just as happy as he sounded.
“We’ve been through a lot and this is just our next chapter, and I’m excited. I can’t wait to start becoming the greatest Healer wizarding London has ever seen, and I can’t wait to share it all with you. I’ll be honest, I am going to miss being here, but before you I didn’t really have a place to call home. But now I know that anywhere I am with you is my home.”
Luke blushed. He was still getting used to Reid sharing his actual feelings with him, and whenever he said things like that, he couldn't help but feel the familiar crimson burn on his cheeks.
“Now enough with this sentimental shit, let’s just snog the rest of the way.”
Luke laughed, and per usual, Reid silenced his laugh with a strong kiss that had him breathing heavy and pushed up against the glass.
“I fucking love you, Reid Oliver.” Luke breathlessly kissed into Reid’s lips.
“Feelings mutual Snyder.”
--
19 Years Later
“Why is everybody staring at us?” Reid asked as he looked around the familiar Platform 9 & ¾
“Ahh, I can see you ate your humble pie this morning.” Luke said laughing as he leaned in to kiss his ridiculously handsome husband.
After a five years at St. Mungo’s Reid finally caved in and joined the Puddlemere United professional Qudditch team where they won six consecutive Qudditch championships and two Qudditch World Cups. After his second World Cup championship, Reid finally retired his broom, and resumed his position at St. Mungo’s quickly moving up the ranks. He now currently sits as the head of St. Mungo’s even though he is one of the biggest celebrities in all of England.
“Come on Dad, hurry up!” Ella said as she tugged on Luke’s hand trying to get them to walk faster.
Luke let go of her hand and let her run ahead, as she spotted one of her friends from grammar school up ahead.
“I cannot believe that she is already going off to School.” Luke said as he watched his only daughter run up ahead, too excited to wait for her Dads. “Which house do you think she’ll be sorted into?”
“As long as she’s not a Huf…”
“Do not finish that thought.”
“You’re right. I’ll be happy no matter what House she gets into.”
“Luke!”
Luke turned around to see Casey pushing a cart piled sky high full of luggage and three owls hanging off the side.
“Casey! How are you?”
“Tired of pushing this cart. Can you believe that I’m sending my fourth one off this year?”
“Actually,” Reid butt in, “it still baffles me that you were allowed to procreate more than…”
“Reid, do not finish that thought.” Luke said, unable to stop the grin from spreading across his face. Try as he might, even when Reid got snarky with his friends, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“How is Alli?”
“She stayed home with the little ones.”
“Have you seen Noah yet?” Casey asked as he finally got his cart to the loading station, where it would be taken off his hands.
“Not yet, but you know Noah, he’s never on time.”
“Actually, if I remember correctly that was you who was always late.”
“I’ll take the blame for that.” Reid said with a cheeky smile.
“You know what? Why don’t you go find Ella, and leave Casey alone, since you still haven’t matured.”
“You love it.”
“No, I love you. Big difference.”
“Same difference.”
“You are insufferable.”
Reid laughed as he let Luke give him a small kiss, before leaving Luke to his friend.
Reid wandered through the crowd, as he watched the eyes of all the young boys and girls who hero-worshipped him. He would probably say that 85% of them couldn’t believe that he was really there, in the flesh.
“Ella.” Reid said when he found here near a group of other fresh first years. She was already the life of the party and Reid had zero concerns about her going off to school for the first time.
“Yes Dad?” Ella asked as she turned around, a huge smile on her face. Excited for the year ahead of her.
“Can you come here a second?”
“Sure!” Ella said as she bounded over to her dad.
“Your father just wanted me to check in with you.”
“Dad, I’ll be fineee.” Ella whined, embarrassed that her dad was checking in on her. She was eleven years old, she could handle herself.
“I know that, but you know how your father gets.”
“I know.”
“Okay, good. If I were you, I would go back over to him. He’s going to miss you like crazy.”
“What about you? Aren’t you going to miss me?”
“Probably not.” Reid said with a laugh. His daughter was too smart for her own good and knew when he was joking. Thankfully, she was also exactly like Luke and had a heart bigger than the moon. She was perfect balance of the two of them.
“Excuse me, I cannot believe that you just said that to your daughter.”
“Aunt Katie! Jacob!” Ella shrieked when she saw Katie and Jacob, who was also going to be a first year. Even though they weren’t related by blood, Ella considered Katie her aunt (on Reid’s side of the family, of course.)
“Hey little one.” Katie said planting a kiss on the top of Ella’s golden blonde hair.
“Hey Ella.” Jacob said
“Ella, why don’t you grab Jacob and go back over to your father?”
“Okay Dad. Wanna come Jacob?”
“Yeah.”
As the two of them walked away, Reid heard Ella declare that she already knew she was going to be a Slytherin and Reid smiled proudly to himself before turning his attention back to Katie.
“Who would have ever thought that we would be here one day, dropping our kids off at the Hogwarts Express?”
“This is where we met almost twenty-six years ago.”
“I can’t believe that you remember that we met on the train.”
“You were annoying as hell, how could I forget?”
“You love me.”
“This is true.” Reid said, giving Katie a long over due kiss on the cheek.
“How is Luke?”
“A nervous wreck. What about you?”
“A nervous wreck.” She said with a smile.
The whistle to the Hogwarts Express blew it’s first warning whistle, letting everybody know it was leaving in five minutes.
“Alright, let’s go say bye to our kids.”
Reid and Katie weaved their way through the mass of parents back over to where Luke was. Noah had arrived and the three old friends were talking while Cooper (Noah’s son), Ella, Jacob, and Jameson (Casey’s daughter) were just outside of their parents circle.
“Hi Katie.” Luke said, opening up their circle, allowing Reid to settle in next to him.
“Hey Luke, good to see you.”
They shared a reassuring smile, knowing that they had to let go, and allow their babies to have an amazing first year.
“Alright Ella, you ready to go?” Luke asked.
“Yes, yes, yes! I’ve been waiting so long!” Ella said excitedly as she bounced around, unable to control her excitement. Luke kneeled down next to her to get closer to eye level.
“You are going to behave right? I know that Dad has told you too many of his stories of when he was at school, but there are times to break the rules and times to follow them.”
“I’m going to be good, I promise!”
“You do what your teachers ask of you, and you study hard. Make as many friends as you possibly can. Learn a lot.”
“Daddd” Ella complained and Reid shot her a sympathetic look.
“Ella, listen to your father.” Reid said, bending down next to Luke.
“But, I know all this already.”
The whistle blew a second time.
“Alright, you can get on the train. Give me a kiss.” Reid said and Ella gave both her Dads a quick kiss before running up the stairs of the train. As she reached the top of the steps she turned around, and with a huge smile, waved to both of them before disappearing into the depths of the Hogwarts Express.
“And that’s that.” Luke said as the train blew it’s whistle a third time, and the wheels slowly started to move.
“She’ll be fine. I survived, you survived.”
“I know.”
“Plus, we don’t need to worry about her until her fifth year, that’s when you Synder’s start getting frisky.”
“Oh my god, I don’t even want to think about that yet, so much for easing my mind.” Luke said with a laugh. Reid always knew the absolutely wrong thing to say, even if it did make him laugh.
“Let’s go home and celebrate an empty house.” Reid said, loud enough for all their friends to hear.
“Gross.” Noah and Casey said at almost the exact same time.
“Some things clearly never change.” Katie said to herself as she shook her head.
Reid just smirked as he planted a hard kiss right on Luke’s lips.
And in mid-kiss, Reid apparited them off of Platform 9 & 3/4 and straight back to their London flat, where they wasted no time enjoying having an empty house.
THE END!